Gibson Made a Stratocaster? 1976 Gibson S-1 Review + Demo

In the 70s Gibson started to toy with lower-end models built to compete against Fender and other guitar manufacturers. The three that pop into my head first are the Marauder, S-1 and L6-S. The Marauder and S-1 were basically an attempt to create a Gibson Telecaster and Stratocaster. Their pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence. These were bolt-on neck guitars with a flying V headstock and a Les Paul body with Fender esq tones. These were later replaced by the Sonex-180 which eventually led to the introduction of the Les Paul Studio in 1983.
I'm a big fan of the S-1 and Marauder. I think they are great little guitars that are fun to play around on. I don't suggest paying more than $1,000 for one, but $900 and under - they are great! They are more of a novelty - I don't think one could really survive tonally with just one of these guitars if you're used to Gibson tones.
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[@bobtompkins825]

I own an S1 I've had it for about 35 years now, has a beautiful sound!

[@wezzlyn]

I really dig all these 70s Gibson oddball guitars. Unique and underrated.

[@Trog]

Definitely agree. Quirky guitars that are fun to have around and semi-what affordable yet

[@sheldonmontgomery2879]

This guitar sounds sweet

[@popeyesailor9571]

The S-1 was designed by Bill Lawrence as suggested by Ron Wood. I owned two of them.

[@Naterade1959]

Looks like brian may's custom geetar

[@novanogo07]

Exactly what I was going to comment.

[@theenisv2653]

Naterade_91 o

[@Spiccatoarco]

Check out the old Burns Vibra Artist.

[@dak1lling]

Naterade_91 yeah it looks exactly like the Red Special

[@judeporter1799]

no it doesnt

[@Senzeni]

Beautiful thing, here we are with my husband drooling over the same guitar which is a first I believe

[@kantina4765]

Those pickups are gorgeous. I love strange looking pickups like these.

[@Foxonian]

Ron Wood was famous for using these in the mid 70's. Always wanted to try one out.

[@terriblecj]

These bodies and necks would go on to become some of the first Heritage guitars as well. Reborn as the Heritage H-120, complete with Bill Lawrence pickups and Shaller hardware.

[@mikebrown3662]

Its funny how in the 70s Gibson and Fender were going after the others market, the tele deluxe was just a fender "Les Paul" and the marauder was Gibsons "telecaster"

[@memriloc]

I have exactly the same guitar and it's my strat. Absolutely love it!

[@triplesevensix291]

Nice one Trog. New viewer to the channel but love it so Im here to stay. Keep it up man. Big up from the UK. ;)

[@Trog]

Thanks for watching!

[@andyg3]

i never get why people dont like the jack on the front, its so much better than on the side!

[@Trog]

If you have an angled jack, it's no issue, but if you have a standard one it sticks out on your guitar and if you step on your lead while playing, you're going to crack your guitar or pickguard in this case. That's why so many SGs have repairs by their output jacks!

[@electricritual4197]

The Trogly's Guitar Show you're supposed to feed the chord back through between the strap and the guitar. Then you never have to worry about that.

[@andyg3]

thats what i thought

[@dankatz5224]

Just make sure all your cables are straight on one end and angled on the other ;)

[@Копейка-в7в]

For studio musicians and people who play live sitting down it's not a problem.

[@donicsm7684]

That looks so much like The Red Special. So awesome!

[@richq11]

I picked one with a maple neck up in a pawn shop for $125!

[@yoesomite2199]

I had a black 1976 S1. it was stolen back in the early 80's I miss it very much. It was a great guitar

[@squareyes1981]

Subs always increasing. Keep up the good work!

[@Trog]

Yes, they are and I'm very thankful for it. Thanks for watching!

[@henryhunter5026]

I really disliked these guitars when they were introduced but now I’d love to have one in my collection. I guess that back in the day it was such a shock seeing a Gibson with a bolt on neck that I overlooked it’s good points, it’s actually a quite funky little instrument.

[@aleksandrnestrato]

3:02 Still don’t understand how people cope with side jacks… Like the ones on Teles and LesPauls. I absolutely hate this design. A. In order to insert the jack into the hole I always have to turn a guitar upside-down, otherwise I have to plug it in tactilely, which in my case consumes more time and leaves scratches on the guitar body. B. Straight jacks crumple when playing couch-seated. Cables with L-jacks have to be sent thru the strap which I never use when playing seated. I love, I adore front output jacks, like on this jem in the vid, like on an SG or a 335. I use them with L-shaped input jacks. I accept angled Strat front jacks, though they’re not as convenient as straight up perpendicular holes. But here is a real dude who actually prefers the shitty side jack!🤯 Incomprehensible!

[@batty2259]

I have an S- 1. Only it has two humbuckers. It's wonderful. I'd love to have a Marauder. I love the finish and distortion sound.

[@Gentile108]

I wish I still had mine. I never liked the sound of my bridge position pickup but would have loved to hear the guitar with a hot rails in there or routed out space for a p90.

[@jsmith5840]

I found a dean ego dragster flame for £10 in a charity shop yesterday. I can’t belie my luck it’s in great condition but they go for £300!

[@TheExiledTexan]

These were made around the same time as the Gibson Grabber/Ripper/G3 basses, and this one even shares the same pickup shape and arrow headstock with the G3. Very cool.

[@RokDAWG1]

The pickups are pretty much the same

[@RastaSaiyaman]

You should have mentioned the bass counterparts of these guitars too. The G-1 Grabber was the bass version of the Marauder. It had a sliding pickup, the most famous user was Gene Simmons who used a Burgundy one in Kiss' earliest days and was pictured using one recording "Monster" in the studio. The G-3 Grabber was the bass version of the S-1, with which it shared its three pickup lay out but without the two way switch. The most famous user was Green Day's Mike Dirnt, listen to that twang he got on songs like "when I come around" his G-3 was smashed by Tre Cool. The L-9S Ripper was the bass version of the L-6S which differed from the others by not having a bolt on neck and having two humbuckers. The most famous user is without a doubt Nirvana's Krist Novoselic who praised the Ripper for being the bass that he "Could throw into a brick wall and not even needed to retune when picking it up afterwards"

[@masterlangley3869]

I loved the Sonex. Currently searching for one.

[@timsrednavnaj]

Got one myself lately, 1978, black, maple fretboard. The pu's are very weak, but that's the charm. Generates genuine telecaster beat-sounds without getting too brittle. Neck pu sounds awsome too. Not a real tele or strat but something on its own. Just like his brother, the Gibson Marauder.

[@gobinstruments4597]

It would be awsome to see these guitars reissued

[@pedroarranz313]

Those guitars sound sweeeet! I have a '76 S1 and I'm desperately looking for some info on the wiring of this guitar. The two way toggle switch does not work when I go on... If you could send me some info/pics of the wiring, I would be immensely grateful. Thanks a lot!

[@kennycaligula3081]

Great video. It does have a strat like vibe, but has its own thing going on too.

[@toddflowers8052]

Sounds good ! Interesting that PRS has a "studio" S2 out this year that looks similar !

[@xCoolUsername]

Todd Flowers in classic PRS copy and reproduce fashion

[@toddflowers8052]

Yep,that what I meant by "interesting". ;-)

[@chrisgames3710]

Jaymes Franko well you have to remember that paul reed Smith was inspired by a lot of gibson guitars in the sixties and I guess that he got an Idea from this style

[@the_nondrive_side]

Truth. However PRS has taken the shit and fixed scale length and tuning issues making Gibson irrelevant and a losing brand...

[@toddflowers8052]

That is your opinion.

[@clockwork914]

I like the 4th position out of phase tone the best!

[@AmperahGaming]

Out of phase is always the answer!

[@clockwork914]

@@AmperahGaming Wow 3 years ago. There’s a flashback 🤯

[@devon-aire]

I once had an opportunity to buy a Marauder. It was natural with a black Gibson stamp. It had this weird orange pickguard I'm guessing the previous owner made custom, they wanted 700 bucks for it which I thought was fair. It haunts me every day that I didn't buy that guitar lol. In my opinion, the coolest Gibson ever made, although I do like this one as well as the "the Paul" Les Paul.

[@RokDAWG1]

Gibson should bring these back along with the lineup that was around up in 1981. Do it exactly like they back in the 70's. They would crush it!

[@Trog]

They reissued the L6-S and RD models not too long ago. I think a set neck Marauder and S-1 reissue would be awesome and sell well

[@robbyclark6915]

That is a seriously cool guitar! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before? Unless I’ve unknowingly watched Paul Stanley smash one?

[@aadmonk]

I have one of these and a Marauder .I think that my S-1 is a maple body(kind of a tobacco burst). It is much heavier than the Marauder which is a mahogany body. Unfortunately in the mid to late 80s I had a Kahler tremolo installed on the Marauder(everybody was doing it back then;-).

[@electricritual4197]

Looks like we're Paul got the idea for the S2 line just made the bevel cut a little bit longer. Did the same thing with the pickguards.

[@tiejol]

Hi, i have a Gibson S-1 1978 and i wonder if you have any idea how many black there was manufactured? The info i have found are 364 tobacco sunburst 586 unspecified (walnut,Mahogany, Wine red) 716 Ebony 1423 natural

[@catboyzee]

Interesting guitar. Very informative, thanks for posting.

[@kevincorbin9875]

Shows you where PRS got the idea for the pickguard on their S2 models, like the Singlecut Standard.

[@TMCG3]

Got the Gibson G3 bass which has the exact same pickups as this. Such cool guitars

[@BreadandFaxes]

There are a couple of these in my area for around $1200. I imagine that if you could rewire this to add just neck pickup functionality it would be a very cool guitar. The fact that it’s just a less useful, more confusing almost Jaguar makes it somewhat less desire-able. The guitar sounds fine, it just needs some tweaking with what pickup configurations are possible. I like the 3 on setting,

[@Whiskeylogicrock]

Dweebenheim The clean tones on the 3 setting were by far the best!

[@davross20]

Can we see a video of ur personal guitar collection

[@Trog]

If you look at some of my first videos, you will see my old personal collection. I had to sell my collection in order to put the down payment on my house. I was a collector of 1983 Spotlight Specials

[@clarkerobertson2764]

I think I remember Bill Lawrence describing the S1 as a single pickup guitar with 3 coils rather than a triple pickup guitar.

[@Casey3-P-O]

Reminds me of Brian May's Red Special. I guarantee I'd love this guitar. I love a lot of weird pickup choices.

[@matthewwalker8197]

i thought/was sure the Les Paul XR-1, XR-2 and XR-3 were what became the Les Paul studio?? awesome video and keep up the good work :)

[@Trog]

They were part of it, yes. They were some of the models that came out right before becoming 'studios.'

[@amorello6563]

Yo, great video my guy. I have an s-1 (the Ron Wood special lol) and just notified that your S-1 has a two piece neck; while mine had a one piece. Is this a year specific variation?

[@mattaebi]

That is a wine red finish. The brown comes from the discoloration and yellowing of the clear nitro.

[@Dudeitsbrian]

Do you have tabs for the playing tests? I’d like to diversify my playing techniques and what you played was great.

[@chavoxo50]

Interesting review of a rare guitar. I completely disagree with your take on the Sonex. I had a Sonex 180 custom in the late 80's/early 90's with the coil splitter (Strat and Paul tones) that was awesome! Everyone who played it thought it was an amazing instrument. In fact one of my friends begged me to sell it to him after his act got signed by a major label. I was so happy for him at the time I made the mistake of selling it. Thanks again for your review!

[@MaxSavage]

I got a Marauder new in '75, still have it, still a go to guitar, tuned to drop A at the moment. I like the output on the route cover/ scratch plate as that way I am afforded the luxury of having interchangeable covers/plates with different pick up configurations, that are easy to swap over. Currently running an EMG85 bridge and 89 neck. Strings 13 to 56, it will need new frets soon, I've never done a fret job on a Gibson before, that should be fun.

[@jaoksan]

reminds me of brian may’s red special

[@silverstone3228]

Nice one Trogg The gibson fanaticism is calling for a Heritage vs Gibson video ☺️

[@icallhimgerald6463]

I love the look of this guitar. If I wasn’t broke I’d look on reverb for one.

[@Medicated1]

I stumbled on your channel, I totally dig these rarish guitars, I'm not a gibby fan, but think I could be if I watch your channel more.. liked and subbed :) Keep up with making these awesome vids. The demos are great too, nice to hear how they sound.

[@Trog]

I'm glad you enjoy my content! I do Reviews and Demos as well as a series called "Would You Rock or Not." I upload every day - usually around midnight EST

[@kjchicago1]

Very Interesting Channel-We all know that Gibson Didn't Make A Stratocaster-But Fender Did-There's a lot of history on this 1976 Gibson S-1

[@draysum1234]

Cool guitar! Great video. Have you ever heard of an XR-1 Les Paul? I have one..

[@Trog]

Heard of - yes. However, I haven't had the chance to review one, yet. Enjoy it!

[@tunesmith7437]

I had both of these (not at the same time) and an L6D...wish I would have kept the S1.

[@davidgianadda7257]

I really like this one! And I'm not a Gibson fanatic. Also I thought scarf joint were a good thing as they are stronger than a one piece neck with tilt-back headstock. I'd like to know why it seems to be a lower end model feature to you? Good video by the way!

[@tomschlaerth8547]

I found one in my local store. What’s an average price today for one of these?

[@zr5r514]

Weren't there Epiphone Stratocaster models?

[@Trog]

Yes, there are a few out there

[@dava4444]

I owned a Gibson Marauder with a maple neck.. the neck was huge. no not just huge, it gave me wrist and hand cramps after playing it for 10 minutes. My particular (former) Marauder , had a neck much like the 2015 necks, and the back was around half an inch thicker than Japanese 90s reissue Jaguar. I got it because i told myself I had to own a Gibson.. and had owned a FujiGen Marauder for many years.. I still have the FujiGen, love that guitar! the Gibson is.. gone!

[@tore-andregurandsrud1043]

Hi! Weird question maybe, but how sure are you on the settings on that 4 way switch? Is the first position really neck + middle? Cause I’ve seen another with someone saying the first position is bridge + middle. And then position two is middle + neck. I’m not saying you’ve necessarily got it wrong, I’m just trying to figure out what is right. 😅 Do you maybe have a user manual? Thanks!

[@samcuratolo3885]

gibson changed the configuration of the pickups i believe in 78 to what your referring to....so this earlier year is correct....

[@tore-andregurandsrud1043]

@@samcuratolo3885 ah..! It all makes sense!

[@donovangilbert7180]

I think I found my new dream guitar

[@baronvonchickenpants6564]

What a lovely guitar

[@marinapapella3062]

SOUNDS AWESOME

[@RastaSaiyaman]

The one word that comes to mind when I think about the S-1 and the Marauder is "Shrill" There simply was no bottom end in how those Lawrence pickups sounded

[@groovydjs]

Turn the bass up on your amp and the treble down. Ta-Da. The axes are great....you have to change things from your head banging settings sometimes with different guitars.

[@Patriot1791-BOR]

Best sounding Gibson ever made. I just wish it had a maple carved top.

[@ant-onemusic444]

it's not the best sounding guitar out there but i really dig its tone, very unique and raw

[@Trog]

A fun model to have around, but I agree - I don't think I could just own this as my 'one' guitar

[@tutankraider3502]

I had one ,many years ago .Gibson tried to shoot in all directions ,to make a model that could become really popular , when eveeryone were longing for a Les Paul. I liked it because it were very light , and it sounded like a strat .the bolted on neck were very much "ungibson" but it worked just the same, fast neck ,low action .I dont regretting selling it ,but it were not that bad, good guitar but not what i needed at that time. So ,dont underrate it :-)

[@stevieklaer9347]

Reminds me of the Gibson Guitar of the week SG3 (Week 10, 21, and 30)

[@heggy_69]

that looks beautiful

[@TomTobin67]

I'm strictly a Fender guy myself` but I've always wanted one of these bad boys. S-1 claim to fame: You can see Paul Stanley playing an S-1 in that God awful movie Kiss Meets The Phantom during the stage fighting scene. Gene $immon$ can be seen playing a Gibson bass that looks like a Thunderbird. I've never seen the god of thunder pay one of those before. He usually went with the Ripper or the Grabber basses.

[@Joeysus]

If y'all wanna hear more modern time use of this guitar check out Turnover live at Audiotree , their guitarist use this guitar! Have been wondering what kind of Gibson he used, glad to stumble upon this vids!

[@seanfried5583]

Actually doesn’t sound bad. All pretty usable sounds.

[@TheLoneMutant]

There was a Gibson "Strat" long before the S-1. It was called the Melody Maker III. It was released around 1967 or so. It had 3 single coil pickups in an SG-style body, and a tremolo was available with it too. You could also get a Melody Maker II, which only had two single coil pickups, and a Melody Maker with just a single coil in the bridge. Both in an SG-style body as well. I'll post a video here to show it to you if you've never seen one before. Melody Maker III kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5XZlWSsj7R5jZI Melody Maker II kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4C2eHl_ebuSebM Melody Maker I kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipvZYqx8qcmsfJY

[@Trog]

Yes, I have heard of those - though I've only ever had a 1 pu verson. Thanks!

[@LOGICNREALITY]

I played one with the H S pups, it was actually cool

[@RRW276]

Sub'd. Do you know the scale on these? 25.5 or 24.75? If I missed this in your vid I apologize. This thing gets some great classic rock tones!

[@Trog]

Unfortunately, I didn't measure that and the guitar is already gone - but I would guess it has the standard Gibson scale at 24.75"

[@rezaaudizen]

I love the sound..

[@TheCrazymicki]

so we know where does the prs s2 series come from

[@lawrencegenereux8567]

EXCELLENT video! Really appreciate your insight. BTW, could you increase your audio video level in your following videos? Your voice is very quiet here. Thanks!

[@Trog]

I had purchased a new lapel mic that I ended up returning because it wouldn't give the output I needed. Believe it or not, the levels are boosted in this video haha. This should be corrected in future episodes. Thanks for watching!

[@sawbonesquad4876]

I kinda really want one of these. Maybe reverb will help one day.

[@toddsteele5918]

The finished S-1's did not enjoy the same level of finish as The Pauls do and I would wager that they all look pretty knackered by now. Mine was an oddball and non clear coated red. I was enjoying some beverages one night in college and accidentally (on purpose) doused it with Jasco. It's now a properly stunning looking natural mahogany.

[@dukealbert7017]

I'd dare say the 3 Pickup Melody Maker was the Gibson Strat.

[@robbyclark6915]

I wonder what the scale length is on one of these guitars?

[@Trog]

24.75”

[@robbyclark6915]

The Trogly's Guitar Show Thanks. My favorite. That’s a super cool guitar. Love that maple neck with the Flying V headstock.

[@bishlap]

it sounds MEAN as you know what - damn. I can hear Keith on that behind mick taylor or ron wood.

[@stevenedwards4470]

Nice. Are those the pickups that are epoxied shut? Like no tamper?

[@Trog]

Correct

[@crazyantny9161]

There was another as well....the Challenger III

[@ericbgordon1575]

Of all things, I went to click on this video because this S-1 looks to me like a Brian May creation more than a creation from the staff at Gibson. Trog, It would be insanely awesome if you could review review a Red Special or similar model from from Brian's Special duplicate builder, Andrew Guyton.

[@fentontooth]

I like how it looks . IMHO Carlos Santana sounded his best with the L6 s .

[@oskarileikos]

The out of phase only sounds good with overdrive

[@mjt11860]

@7:33 what effects, etc r u using to get that tone & distortion?

[@Trog]

This one is just straight into the amp Gibson Super Goldtone GA-30RV for Cleans Marshall JMP-1C for Dirty - 9 on volume, 12 on bass and treble.

[@popeyesailor9571]

Mine had neck only on first position.

[@the_nondrive_side]

I was hoping for the thing to have a 25.5" scale length... Something Gibson needs to do and get on it fast.

[@Trog]

I think the nighthawk series did have that length

[@bills48321]

What's the scale length?

[@gingerbeer914]

I totally agree on NOT paying $1000.- and more (I have seen €1800 and €2100 for certain Marauders). Japanese collectors bought these guitars in the crisis years 2008-2014 for almost NOTHING and now they are driving up the prices on sites like Reverb and eBay. Don't fall for it. What are they really worth? IMHO €500-850 depending on the colour. I paid €500.- for my NT, which was a very common finish (and the most beautiful IMO). They are great sounding guitars ( a bit like a Tele Custom), but VERY HEAVY when you buy it with a MAPLE BODY, so you will need a wide strap in order to reduce the pressure on your shoulder. When designing the Les Paul, the original plan of Les Paul and Ted McCarthy was to use a 100% solid MAPLE body, but the guitar became TOO HEAVY. That's why they decided to use mahogany for less weight and a maple cap for the sustain. The maple Marauders and S-1s are compromiseless muscle guitars. Just buy a wide leather strap so that it doesn't cut into your shoulder. Don't even think of using 'vintage' Fender straps... keep those for dwarf pinchers.

[@willheil7591]

I had one in the 80s and they maple must’ve been 2 pounds or so heavier than what is mentioned in this video.

[@donrutter6765]

Yep, its got 1 tone like a strat, the opening tone of Skynyrd swamp music.

[@novanogo07]

Sweet scarf joint

[@lespaul515077]

I would rather have one of these than a strat. Yes I too am a Gibson fanatic.

[@contrabandjoe7974]

I own a 76 all maple S1.. And 4 American Fender Strats. Trust me-IMO the S1 sounds better then a strat. Much more robust tone with less "ice pick"

[@vikramjitbanerjeetuki]

I think Chet Atkins used one of these

[@anthonynoe8889]

Reminds me of the Brian may guitar

[@boilingpaul]

13:22...I think Scott Grove may be the only S-1 collector..

[@martywhite1084]

Paul JustPaul God that jackass.

[@martywhite1084]

Trolls Suck Scott Grove sucks massively.

[@martywhite1084]

Trolls Suck It’s surprising so many like him. His ideas are wrong. His timing is horrendous. And his followers are misinformed sheep that like him because he’s loud in his opinions. He’s far from a legend. He’s just a KZbin moron with a number of followers. Legend? No.

[@martywhite1084]

Trolls Suck 😘

[@gingerbeer914]

... which creates scarcity on the market and higher prices. I paid 500 for mine, but because of his videos and obsessive buying everybody wants €1,000 for these guitars now. We see the same thing happening with the Marauder. It would be nice to have one of each for €500-650 but the Japanese collectors/dealers have driven up the prices. All we must learn is not to accept them and wait until they normalize. It is of course nonsense that some people ask more for a Marauder (€2K) than the value of a used Les Paul Standard DC, a guitar that costed originally 8-10x the price of a Marauder. So, just be patient...